Buying Football Boots?

Did Arsenal boss blunder with Alexis?

As much as it was nice to see Arsenal dominate Tottenham in the latest North London derby, we did not manage to carry on from last season and get the win we deserved. And if you are looking for a reason why Arsenal failed to convert their possession into points maybe the first thing you would look at is the decision to leave the best player for Arsenal this season so far on the bench.

If Alexis Sanchez had been on from the start Arsenal could easily have taken advantage of Tottenham’s shaky start. To be fair to Wenger, he must have expected the Spuds to be a lot tougher opposition from kick off but they were awful and we just didn’t have the quality on the pitch to make them pay.

At the end of the day, a draw in the NLD is OK but is could have and should have been so much better. So is this further evidence or ammunition to the people who want to fire shots at Arsene Wenger. It certainly won’t help his cause and you have to wonder why he left the Chilean International striker on the bench for perhaps the most important home game of the season.

just signing reus would not do it. we need better tactics, more depth in defense, logical squad rotation, and proper CDMS. Basically we need Wenger to step down and Klopp to step in. Otherwise nothing will change

start ozil at cam and wilshere in at cm from now on
what was wrong with wilshere? he might of not been great but he was way better than ramsey
honestly ramsey has had 3 poor games in a row, he keept giving the ball away and he’s always trying to be fancy, he’s so much better when he plays simple and to his strengths like determintation and energy, and today the positives i took were chambers because he’s a boss, the ox he’s class, wilshere is getting back to form, and ozil as well he looked really good.
but again a solid CDM and we would of won the game….

Nothing wrong with Wiltshire???
How many times did he pass the ball to Spuds players?
How many times did he run straight into players?
How many times did Spuds players take the ball off him like a bully robbing the fat kids lunch money?

Jack can’t stay on his feet, dribble or retain a ball.
Would he make the bench at City or Chelsea? Wise up.
Sell him, hasn’t improved, probably won’t now.
City and Chelsea have teams of men, proven players at the top level, we have potentials and don’t give me the youth crap.
Jesus even Southampton have a better youth system than us and we are Arsenal!
Look at the number of Southampton youth academy players we have vs our own youth academy?
F**king embarrassment.

Poor decisions again from Wenger.
To salvage our season, (in line with a minimum 4th place finish) this is what needs to happen in the January window, (Assuming Debuchy, Giroud, Walcott etc are back):
Defense:
Out: Mertesacker.
In: A top Hummels class CB to be bought, Chambers and Hayden cover.
MF:
Out: Areta or Flamini.
In: Kondogbia and ideally another James McCarthy type player, (if Diaby still cannot stay fit).
Attack:
Out: Podolski, Sanogo, (maybe loan). I also suspect Campbell will go. Sell Cazorla if you are not going to use him, (I wouldn’t sell).
In: A left and ideally right sided versatile fast Winger as cover for Walcott and Sanchez.

Play Ozil/Cazorla at 10.
Don’t play Ramsey and Wilshire together.
Use Ganbry when he’s back.

even with all those great changes, wenger will still be there.
now i think the central weakness is no longer the set of players we have, but ,
unfortunately wenger. he can take a good set of players and play people out of position etc and still manage to screw it up.

Completely agree but we all know its not gonna happen! The resolution for our problems is so simple but Wenger won’t address them n although I think over the course of the season we’ll gain enough points to get into top 4, the balance if this team is so far from where it needs to be for a title winning team that it brings a tear to my eye…

Just gonna have to see out wengers 3 years n hope for a fresh n hungry manager to give us some much needed balance n impetus

Some of the changes you suggest are well beyond the bounds of our current reality. Sadly, Wenger is making blunders weekly that are well within the bounds of reality. And that reality is getting more painful with each shockingly stupid Wenger decision.

The only blunder is Arsenal is getting sentimental & still continuing with Wenger. When Real Madrid wanted Mourinho out, their fans & media made his life uncomfortable. He had to give up eventually. We are going nowhere with someone who earns his living on past laurels. Wenger’s a legend in my eyes & I don’t want to remember him as someone who made us a joke.

The whole undefeated thing is overrated. If you win one game and lose two, you end up with the same points as drawing three games. We are drawing too many games against inferior opponents and the losses will come as soon as we face top 4 competition.

I’ll ask again, how is having two more players lucky? Cazorla was doing the same thing Ramsey was doing, useless passing and such with along with Ozil and Wilshere the majority of the match. Why we got 3 No.10’s in our starting XI? Why is Ramsey even being played like a No.10 now? And Flamini isnt an improvement on Arteta. Both are average. So please explain how having less squad depth now is lucky? We still arent going to play any better.

that wasnt sarcasm, that was you trying to make it seem like Arteta and Ramsey injuries helped get us a draw. They didnt and we didnt really play better until Alexis came on and Ozil was put in the middle.

Ramsey was continuing his rusty start not poor but not great either, Cazorla I thought was decent. Arteta on the other hand I thought was playing well. Unlike Flamini, he is a good passer of the ball. He dictates the game. We were all over them whilst Arteta was on the pitch. Flamini was definitely a downgrade today, highlighting again the need for a proper DM.

A proper holding midfielder wouldn’t have been so careless in possession in the first place, but if they had lost the ball, they would’ve had no hesitation in stopping the counterattack and drawing a yellow card. Unsporting? Not the Arsenal way? Everyone else does it. It’s a part of the game. Deal with it.

Wont be critical of Alexis but he was poor. His first attempt was a clear chance at goal, and he fluffed it. he is one of the few world class players we have and I expected him to do better. I don’t know – yesterday I could not even fault the players for effort..somehow the offensive set are not clicking as a unit.

@Popeye786Sailor.
Spot on I used to have so much respect for the guy and defend him at all costs, I am strongly swaying towards the Wenger out brigade now which is kind of sad.
People say we are undefeated this year in the PL, true but it’s the manner of Wengers strategic decisions, team selections, lack of adequate business in the transfer windows, seemingly arrogant style he has now and overwhelming influence and power at the club that worry me deeply. The time for a Klopp or Martinez is coming though careful thought as to the replacement is needed. For me Arsene has the January window to win me round after this he’s lost my support.

Not only to you mate, but any right minded and sane fans.
Wenger has the “balls” to leave a £32millions signings on the bench in a game like that!!

I am not looking forward to the Chelsea game…
Mourinho and his crew are murdering teams in their ground !!
Chelsea has DMs in quantity, creative players (I can see Fabregas trying to make a point next weekend) and a destructive strike force…!!

On top of that we have lost Ramsey with a hamstring (3 to 4 weeks… But I would say 2 months due to our excellent medical staff).

We are already short in defensive cover.

It seems that Wenger “likes” to see the fans suffer and just taking a piss on purpose !!

its almost as if wenger hears what everyone else is saying,
looks at the most logical simple lineup and then goes
“but i’m smarter than that : i will surprise them by putting out this incredibly unguessable, surprising lineup because i will never do what everyone thinks because I AM THE MANAGER”

And then you are thumbed down because you speak the truth.
How else do you explain a manager who admits that he is TEMPTED to play Ozil in his best position behind Welbeck, but insist after all that he will still be played on the wings? And goes ahead to make do his promise? For no tactical reason?
Please someone should explain to us -lowly citizens of planet- earth the tactical reason why Ozil had to start the game on the left wing. And please don’t give me that “we have to accomodate Jack wilshere” crap.

Wenger is a complete idiot!
I simply can’t believe anyone still thinks he should be managing this club.

Why is Flamini in the team?
Why does Wiltshire fall over, get bullied of every ball and run straight and I mean STRAIGHT into players?
Flamini and Arteta need to go along with all the other broken players.
I watched the City and Chelsea games, MEN at the top of their sport playing football not boys who may or may not come good in a few years and some geriatric players.
NEWSFLASH Wenger we should be playing for THIS season not 3 years in the future.

Enough of this fool who built a sizable chunk of his reputation on the core team that George Graham built.
Who brought that legendary back 4 together? Not Wenger.
Time moved on Wenger didn’t.
No WC striker.
No DM.
No Depth in squad.
No cover in defense.
57 CAM’s
Tactics from the ‘George bush in a primary school reading stories while your country is being attacked’ and the ‘Hitler imaginary armies’ playbooks.
Idiot.

Get him out and a new manager in who can address deficiencies in January.
This season is gone anyway.
Chelsea are already 6 points ahead, Fabregas (Wenger could have bought) 6 assists in 6 games, Costa (Wenger could have bought) PL top scorer.
Team selection tonight? FFS, I don’t even get surprised anymore.
Seriously guys enough is enough, he has to go.

If we stuck together we could oust Wenger and Stan but as soon as we win a game 50% of the people wanting him out will sheep like fall back into the AKB camp.
Simply wouldn’t happen at some other big clubs where the fans would stick together and force change.
It could be done but fans need to stick together.

@muffdiver. Great analogy!
I’m numb the fans, the pundits, the media they all know what Arsenal need and have done for several seasons but still Wenger ignores it, why?
I don’t buy this ‘players are hard to come by’ pay the rate required and you’ll get them.
Wenger’s economic qualification continues to conflict with his role at the club, it’s like he’s trying to be smart by starting campaigns on the cheap, this was fine during the stadium build period but we expect action and to now be competing against the likes of Chelsea and City for top spots. How can we do this with players like Per M and Arteta? they simply are not good enough. Que sharp intake of breath and big sigh!

I can see Diaby coming back into the fold next week… With statements saying that he has overcome his injuries and “looks” and “strong” in training…!
This is how much of a deluded, fake and con artist Wenger is…!!

I was fuming when I saw Sanchez on the bench, but to be fair to Wenger, the Ox played really well, and Sanchez didn’t look fully fit to me when he was on. He wasn’t sprinting around like he usually does.

I hate to say it, but I think Chelsea may destroy us next week. We’re still not playing well, so many injuries, Wenger can’t beat Mourinho, and they look awesome right now. It’s going to be very tough stopping Hazard, Cesc and Costa.

@ThirdManJW.
With Per and Flamini in the defensive line up against Chelsea we are in trouble!
Even if we camped in our half for the entire game we’d still concede as we can’t defend against corners and set pieces.
I fear damage limitation is the order of the day next weekend.
Either way we’ll need lady luck on our side, maybe Chelsea will go down to 10 men, we’ll get a moment of magic from Ozil, Welbeck, Sanchez…..who knows trying to be positive but fearing the worst.

wenger out now , simple as . when are the AKB fans going to realise wenger is bringing us down every game . we have wonderful individual players but we do not have a team . he no longer has the dressing room , wenger must go before it is too late .

Wenger you are your own worst enemy. You waste previous time dreaming of the future instead of engaging in the present. Cut your ties to the past — enter unknown territory. Place yourself on “death ground”, where your back is against the wall and you have to fight like hell to get out alive.

Right signing out to go and eat a take away, drink some beer, watch Atalanta v Juve and try and put todays grrrrr out of my mind, (will likely haunt me when my head hits the pillow!).
Later gooners……….

An open letter petition? Do some of know how silly you sound? Undefeated in the league (albeit with too many draws) with a reasonably difficult schedule, in the top four etc. things aren’t great but let’s get some perspective people. There is only one team that is currently setting the league on fire.

Undefeated is not a good thing when you are getting draws and not wins. Tie every game and you end up with 38 points. Plus, we have played 4 games outside the league and not done so well in those games. With the exception of parts of the City game and 3 minutes against a plague ridden Villa team, Arsenal have played poorly most of the season.

Wenger out! Sooner we’re out of the CL the better, Wenger obsessed with it , there’s no way we are gonna win it, I hate Wenger!! I support the players but Wenger is their downfall, he plays them out of position and they confidence. Sooner he goes the better!

@truedeau.
I’m back.
Sorry is it wrong for us after years of being patient to now not be and demand action and performances from Wenger and the team.
I ask you:
Do you understand and endorse Wengers team selections and formations?
Do you think it was okay for us to not buy a powerful younger DM player and a replacement CB? when TV5 left?
Do you think it’s okay for Wenger to have such an unchallenged / free reign at the club?
I could go on.
Results are what matters but there is more to just results for me, I guess you feel AKB 🙂

The rants are so annoying.The boys played pretty well and even the Spuds know they were lucky to get a point.But cry babies here will always rant about anything.Before the game,all the insane guys here were predicting that the Spuds would be walloped as if they didn’t understand the weaknesses that they are now eager to point out after the game.A derby is a derby u idiots.It can go either way.

i’m feeling like this forum only has teenagers who are all experts in Football Manager. Everytime Arsenal s struggle to win, they just call out Wenger to blame. It is really boring to read comments nowadays. Alexis should have started? Do you know how many matches Alexis has played in a row? He played full 90 minutes just a few days ago. Today when he was in at 60′, he still looked not at his best. Wenger did right to make him a sub today. He also did a brilliant thing of giving Ozil a free role while still maintaining a solid midfields. Only one mistake of Flamini cost us a goal and this can happens to anybody, may i remind you our goal was because of another silly error of a Tot player? Abd I read many forums, including my local newspaper, but no where else on this earth has fans who even blame our GK for that goal like in here. The only thing i hate during our games is whenever Arsenal has trouble in finding a goal, our home attendants are absolutely SILENT! God! please get behind the team, otherwise please quit and be a fan of others teams. You contribute nothing but your childish attitude and your boring comments

i guess this constitutes and adult comment….please….of course it wasnt right…this was a big game today and much bigger than wednesday night…you play your best players in big games but more than that football is a team sport which depends on players learning to interact with each other they can only do that if they play together in familiar roles…our real qualities players dont play enough together….sanchez immediately added options to our game missing before..either ramsey or arteta should have been left out from the start to make way for sanchez… but wengers absurd strategy of endless rotation plus out of positioning has delivered nothing…he is addicted to it on the belief he can get the best out of players regardless of what they think…i know some idiot is going to talk about henry but stop living on outliers from the past and start looking at the teams we have to beat to get beyond 4th

play alexis at the start; get momentum going; then rest him later.
yes we’ll always have silly errors, but you want to maximise your chances of winning by putting out the best lineup & killing the game off.

wenger’s fault that we are forced to rely on flam.

didnt make sufficient compromises during summer to get the best DM he could.
i dont believe the best DM we couldve got would not have been better than flam/arteta.

Let us leave the issue of the boss not starting Alexis in the NLD with the boss. He is the manager and he knows the reason for his doing so. We the Gooners cannot know everything about the Gunners, save if we are told. But what pained me about this derby game is, we would have gone to 3rd on the table if a winner had come from Welbeck, Wilshere, Ozil, or Mertesacker and Koscielny as the case used to be with these two defenders. We can’t always be blaming the boss but some of our Gunners performance are equally lamentable. The problem which I want the boss to find solution to is, we have played four big games so far this season and we only got 3 points out of the maximum 12 points. In an exam, that is a failure. If I may remind us, we played Dortmound, Man City, Everton and Spurs and got only 3 points. Next are two big games we are to play with Galatasaray and Chelsea before the international break. Arsenal must win those games by all possible means to allay any fear.

@arsenal207
Part of me agrees, but you must sympathise with some fans frustrations. Not everyone is as calm, measured and analytical as yourself.
Like Truedeau you generally refer to kids on here that no nothing about football, why not name and shame some of these disloyal culprits!
P.S. I agree that Wenger knows best re’ not starting Sanchez today, so far this season he’s given 120% effort and needed to recharge.
Again though I come back to this. Do you think we’ve developed strongly from last years squad? and do you think we’ve addressed all the squad issues/gaps we needed to? I don’t.
I also agree with you during the game we need to be vocal and loudly support the team

@Ronny331
They usually have names you’ve never seen before and more than likely won’t see again. Poppin up only when we either draw or lose.
It does get annoying the read 40+ posts in a row by 40+ different people, saying just about the same thing. Most of it negative speculation.
Yeah I respect difference of opinion. But when it’s hiding biased bigotry, thats where I draw the line.

I know we could have been stronger if we bought more stars. The fact is we will never buy enough even though we had the best summer spending. Everyone of you wants Arsene to buy someone like we could just pay the money and get him. The important thing i want to say is get behind your team after we passed that buying time. Many of us created a huge pressure on Ozil, Arteta … by critising them at any chance and that is not helpful at all. There were champions in the history who didnt need a super stars team, but they must fight as a team and we are the Arsenal

U get it wrong! it is not about stars..it is about players who perform week in week out, and do a job for the team. How can u get behind 2 CDMs who literally cost us every single game! every time we lose the ball in midfield, there is chaos amongst the back four. We get sliced open every time – yes every fuc***g time ! that is what people are asking wenger to address! may not be a big name but at least bring in someone who can do the job! We also need to understand that it is not the fault of the player- Arteta and Flamini are doing their best- it is just that they are past their best and Wenger refuses to see or accept that !

Our best player is out now for 6 weeks fact and we still don’t have a DM that could have taken us to the top of the epl. We have 2 hard games now and they are both 3 point games coz we can’t close 9 points. He is going to need to trust chambers as our DM next week or play the OZ there or play not to lose. 4 5 1 just tuck up and take a point. As for the CL well it’s a must 3 points but I still think AW needs to go now

The thumbs down could represent eternal fan optimism or it could just be a child-like denial of reality. We live in the real world, not a world of fantasy narrated by Wenger’s nonsensical excuses each week.

I still think unbeaten in the league (a very competitive league this season btw..) is a decent / solid start. We aren’t completely fluid as a team yet, but that WILL come with more games and players getting to know each other more.

That said, it is a tough league so far. The only standout team being Chelsea, and even they have drawn 1 game…

I’m still confident we will get better as the weeks go by and players reach full fitness.

I’m not happy about the amount of injuries we are getting. It MUST be down to how teams approach us and try to break up our game, by which I mean aggressively.

A decent DM would help in that area by breaking up opposition attacks and giving some solidity to our midfield. Hopefully Diaby can fill in while we wait to sign Carvalho or similar in January..or not as the case may be.

Still, we have much to be positive about compared to other top teams. We are hard to beat, and that is a good thing. It’s a hard league. Lots of teams are up for it more than ever it seems..

sorry Diaby will not be fir until we reach the Janauary window when wenger will anounce that Diaby is fit and like a new signing and that we need to look within. And then as soon as the window closes, he will announce that he had a setback and will be out for rest of the season and we repeat the same set of events as- well every year !

So we start Ozil on the wing again (which never works)
We lose Arteta & Flamini comes in and IS ReSponsible for the goal we gave up
Ramsey goes off injured inw hat could be a long term absence (given our injury record)
Wilshire rolls his ankle and might have to miss next week.
Full circle it takes multiple injuries and subs to get Ozil into the middle were he shines. Alexis should’ve been on. For more time.
And we only save a point vsSpuds.
I’m tired of the crossing the ball in hoping we make something of it. That’s how we play with Giroud. We have Welbeck and Sanchez now and our Play needs to be more direct and incisive. Ozil needs to run the show feeding the ball into Ox, Sanchez, Welbeck.
We have got to buy a DM FFS!!!!!!!

Many of Arsenal`s senior and avid fans are, and have been, critical of Wenger`s decisions for a very long time. I was one who used to say “Arsene knows best”, after all he`s with them every day, however, that was quite some time ago. We definitely need a new mind in the dugout.

yeah, ok, if chambers’ shot or mert’s header would’ve gone in, we wouldn’t be ranting.
but that would’ve just papered over the cracks: the long term shortcomings of wenger.
we’ll still win most of our games and probably come 4th or even 3rd .
but is your criteria “for all is well” that we “won some games” ?
look in detail at what’s been happening: even in wins, what could be improved.
and its not rocket science – to put ozil in the center.
thats not something that is out of the blue, or crazy.
i think wenger likes to over-analyze and over-think and to tinker with the lineup incessantly.
and its costing us.
he cant just do the simple, obvious thing because its too easy .

Yes, Sanchez did not have a great game yesterday but clearly should have started. He’s been our best player so far this year. He was on the bench to make room for Wilshere who automatically starts regardless of form or performance. We needed Wilshere to get hurt yesterday instead of Ramsay.

Prediction. The same team starts on Wednesday minus the injured players (Flamini replaces Arteta; Sanchez replaces Wilshere). Then a very tired team goes to Chelsea (who will have an extra day’s rest plus squad rotation) and gets spanked by at least 3 goals.